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UAE - Roland Systems Group (RSG), a member of the Roland Corporation Group, has appointed Nicolas Kyvernitis Electronics Enterprises (NMK) as the exclusive distributor for supplying its Roland Professional audio and video product line to UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and Oman.

NMK headquarters are located in Dubai and the company has been operating in the market for 26 years already, since they started in 1984 focusing on the audio, video and lighting industries. NMK began in Sharjah (UAE) as a small company and during its years of operation has become a leading distributor of professional audio, video and lighting products in the Middle East

The agreement was taken after the recent visit which the president & CEO of Roland systems Group EMEA, Paulo Caius to NMK in Dubai.

"NMK are looking forward to introducing Roland audio and video products across the region," comm

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UK - PLASA 2010 closed on a high, with preliminary visitor figures set to show an increase over 2009 and strong international engagement from across the world. Exhibitors across all the show's sectors enthused about the quality of business leads and relished the show's vibrant atmosphere. The event, which filled London's Earls Court 1 and 2, drew over 12,000 visitors, while the international attendance continued to be strong with nearly 30% of visitors attending from 99 countries worldwide.

Show director Nicola Rowland commented: "The universally positive feedback and the strong visitor figures would be satisfying under any circumstances, but in the current economic climate it's a strong result for our exhibitors and for the show itself - it underlines just how important PLASA remains in the international events calendar.

"Numbers alone were only part of the story,&q

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USA - J. R. Clancy has been approved to become an official Training Provider in rigging, as designated by the Entertainment Technician Certification Programme.

J. R. Clancy offers a training programme that can assist ETCP Technicians in acquiring ETCP Renewal Credits towards recertification. Rigging professionals who take courses offered by J. R. Clancy earn one renewal credit per hour of instruction. The Clancy programme began with one course; now, as an ETCP Training Provider, Clancy has expanded its programme with multiple courses. Those interested in taking an industry certification examination may find these courses helpful in preparation.

Candidates who wish to sit for an ETCP examination must meet eligibility requirements. A total of 30 credits are required to qualify for the certification exam, with points awarded for work experience and college-level degrees earned.

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Lennon Remembered - Celebrations to mark the 70th anniversary of John Lennon's birth will include a benefit concert in New York. Among the musicians slated to pay tribute to the former Beatle at the 12 November concert at New York's Beacon Theatre are Jackson Browne, Patti Smith, Cyndi Lauper, Aimee Mann and Shelby Lynne. The concert is one of several events and parties being held in New York and around the world to honour what would have been Lennon's 70th birthday on 9 October. Proceeds from the concert will be donated to the Playing for Change Foundation, a charity which promotes peace through music and builds music schools in the developing world.

Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, is expected to mark the anniversary day in Iceland, where she will light the Imagine Peace Tower memorial located on the island of Vioey, near Reykjavik. Ono's We Are Plastic Ono Band has also planned trib

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UK - As London Fashion Week draws to a close and makes way for London Fashion Weekend, Point Source Productions continues its involvement with this high profile event.

After the success of last year's collaboration, Point Source Productions, in conjunction with Fine Art Lighting, has supplied lighting solutions to producers Blonstein & Associates for all exhibition spaces during London Fashion Week.

This Wednesday sees a quickfire turnaround as Point Source Productions helps transform the exhibitor stands of London Fashion Week into the sales booths of London Fashion Weekend, providing a total relight for over 100 exhibitors before it opens to the public on 23 September.

Brian Jones of Blonstein & Associates reports, "Point Source's calm attention to detail in the maelstrom of the designer load-in is a really important part of the production as a whole. They excel at ge

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UK - Orbital Sound has supplied Bristol-based PA rental company Amber Audio with two Digidesign SC48 Venue digital consoles, as well as a d&b audiotechnik Q1 line array, complete with J-SUB and B4-SUB cardioid subs - winner of a PLASA 2010 Innovation Award.

Amber Audio wanted to expand its hire stock to cope with an increasing workload, and the company's Alan Burgess selected Orbital after considering a range of suppliers, following advice on suitable line-arrays and digital consoles that would meet its criteria for rider-friendly brands. Since receiving the new systems, Amber has deployed them for a number of projects including Swindon Invincible 2010 - Battle of the Bowl, the South West's annual dance music festival.

Alan Burgess comments: "We have had d&b audiotechnik in our inventory for around 10 years, and have always found them to be a good investment. In fa

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UK - Adlib Audio's festival run included supplying the NME/Radio 1 Stages at both sites for the Reading & Leeds Festivals. The brief for these tented venues included the provision of sound for outdoor areas left, right and to the back of the tents as well as the standard system inside. Adlib sent a crew of six to each site, with Marc Peers crew-chiefing Leeds and James Neale in Reading.

The PA systems were near identical for both sites, allowing the line-ups to flip-flop between locations, teamwork between Adlib's two crews - who exchanged show files, notes, patch and settings information, right down to the mic lists - enabled all the artists' second nights to "run like clockwork". It also ensured they enjoyed complete continuity in sound and mixing conditions for both performances.

With a normal set up inside and three large video screens outside the tent (one eithe

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China / Norway - In one of the largest single implementations of its technology yet seen anywhere in the world, Norway's projectiondesign has supplied some 80 of its F32 series DLP projectors for use in the French Pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo 2010.

The task of implementing the AV systems at the Pavilion fell to the Paris office of ETC, which has specialised in the design and automation of large-scale image projection since its formation in 1981. ETC's joint project managers David Baillot and Nicolas Paineau worked on-site to ensure the smooth installation of the AV systems after the company was awarded the tender to supply and operate the multimedia equipment by the Pavilion's state-backed organizing body COFRES. The project was designed by noted French architect, Jacques Ferrier.

"At this expo, the projectors are arranged in pairs or in fours, depending on the siz

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USA - Charismatic Brazilian pop star and Latin Grammy Award-winner Ivete Sangalo kicked off a string of US dates at Miami's American Airlines Arena on 28 August. The artist, who performed beneath a Beachsound-supplied rig of Martin MAC luminaires and backdrop Martin LC Series LED screen, is one of the most popular Brazilian singers, having sold over 12m albums worldwide.

Full service production company Beachsound of South Florida provided a full turn-key package that included lighting, LED video and imaging, audio and labour.

Beachsound, celebrating its 15th anniversary this year, is a Martin dealer with an impressive inventory of entertainment production gear. No stranger to big time live performance, they have supplied big shows for artists like Gloria Estefan, Marc Anthony, James Blunt, Paulina Rubio and many others.

"When we got the call to do the first concert in t

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UK PLASA 2010 Show was again a major success for MA Lighting and its co-exhibitors Major and Rainbow Colour Changers. The new grandMA2 software release 2.0, the MA VPU (Video Processing Unit) and the whole networking technology of MA Lighting, including the MA NPU (Network Processing Unit) achieved much praise, says the company.

MA Lighting's managing director Michael Althaus commented: "We received a massive interest in grandMA2 especially from theatres in the UK. They do in particular benefit from the latest grandMA2 software release 2.0 and were interested to find out themselves, why a remarkable number of theatres, among them the Royal Shakespeare Company opted for these future oriented control system.

"In recent years, MA Lighting has collected extensive information from the theatre market and the whole product design of the grandMA2 was heavily influenced by th

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UK - Robe lighting enjoyed "an amazing PLASA 2010 exhibition" in London, launching nine environmentally friendly products and a major green initiative - Think of the Future - Consider Nature; designing an ecospheric style booth; and staging The Robe Party, at the Cafe de Paris in central London on the Sunday night.

"I think it was probably our best PLASA to date in terms of positive energy, quality of visitors and interest shown in the new products," says MD Josef Valchar. "This really confirms that our understanding of current market demands and our R&D is going in the right direction."

Robe's sales director Harry Von Den Stemmen adds: "Visitors were absolutely the target market. Reactions were generally very good and the booth was very busy on all days. The 'green' theme and design was a big hit and tapped into a contemporary nerve.&

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UK - ETC has reported a positive response to its new marketing theme, Evolving Light, which was launched at this year's PLASA Show. Two new products were seen on the stand: the Source Four HID Zoom eX outdoor luminaire; and Selador Pearl, the latest addition to the Selador range of LED fixtures.

The Zoom eX, which is set to ship in the first quarter of 2011, is IP65 rated for exterior lighting use and is designed for gobo/pattern projection and tight shutter cuts on specific structures or architectural details. The forward portion of the housing removes completely for beam sizing, focus, gobo insertion and shutter adjustments, while the removable housing is designed to hang conveniently on the yoke, freeing both hands for focus.

The Selador Pearl LED fixture provides an efficient tool for video and event production. Its array of white LEDs provides adjustment between 32

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Argentina / Italy - Italian audio manufacturer dBTechnologies has appointed Todomusica S.A. as exclusive distributor for its full product range in Argentina. Founded by current owner/CEO Rafael Pedace, Todomusica started life 26 years ago as a small retail store and has since grown into a leading distributor in both the pro audio and musical instruments sectors.

"We are very proud to be working with dBTechnologies," says Pedace, who has headed up the Argentinian company since its inception. "It's not 'just another brand' to us. dBTechnologies is renowned for its quality, it boasts great technological innovation and retails at competitive prices. These - along with its aggressive marketing campaign - are exactly the tools we need to give the brand a very solid positioning in our market."

Todomusica, which means 'all music', serves over 1200 dealers across th

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UK / France - Robert Juliat's new Aledin LED theatrical zoom profile spot was recognised with an Innovation Award from the judges at PLASA 2010. Aledin, the world's first LED generic profile, was created to fill the gap in the market for a high output, low wattage LED alternative to conventional tungsten and discharge profile fixtures, the company says.

"It has been possible for some time to replace every other lighting fixture - washlights, cyclights, striplights and moving heads - with LED alternatives," explains Robert Juliat sales director, Lionel Garraud. "The only fixture that could not be replaced was a generic profile - until now."

Aledin's 85W LED light source generates an output of 4500 lumens presenting, for the first time, a viable LED profile for venues wishing to reduce their carbon footprint without reducing their technical performance qualit

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Canada / Belgium - Montreal-based SC Media Technologies, a division of Soundcraft Canada, has formed an agreement with Barco to exclusively handle its Barco/High End Systems lighting equipment and mid-market 'Elements' LED products. SC Media will provide local support of sales, marketing, service and parts for Canada-based rental and staging partners and integrators for these solutions.

SC Media is providing support through its national sales and dedicated project management teams, expanding its personnel to fulfil the anticipated increase in business from Barco sales and service. The company has a rich foundation in pro audio which will be well complimented by the expansion into Barco's professional video displays. The company also offers creative financing solutions to assist customers in procuring the full range of audio/video products.

"We are very proud of this new p

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USA / Italy - A.C.T Lighting has announced its appointment as a distributor for Clay Paky products in the US and in the English-speaking areas of Canada. The announcement was made at the PLASA 2010 show, held in London 12-15 September. A.C.T Lighting will offer the same client-centric service and support for the lighting manufacturer as it has been known for with its other product lines, including MA Lighting's grandMA consoles.

Pio Nahum, Clay Paky's commercial and marketing director comments: "This new appointment will make the Clay Paky range of products more accessible to our North American customers. With offices in New York and Los Angeles, A.C.T Lighting is a leading importer and distributor of cutting-edge lighting products and provides superior customer support and service."

"We are proud to become part of the Clay Paky family and this is a very excitin

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UK - A.C. Entertainment Technologies has acquired the entertainment business of Primarc as part of an ongoing expansion programme that will merge the two companies' entertainment lighting businesses and enable Primarc to focus predominately on the specialist lamps market.

From 1 October, Primarc will relocate to AC-ET's international sales office and warehouse operation in High Wycombe, allowing the company to benefit from AC-ET's infrastructure and logistics.

Primarc's Bob Peach and Kevin Everett will then join AC-ET's UK sales team. With access to both companies' entertainment lighting stockholdings and product sales teams, this will provide Primarc and AC-ET customers with even greater choice and availability whilst continuing to deliver the same high standard of service and support.

Primarc will focus on its specialist lamps business, with particular emphasis on growing

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Mexico - For the celebrations to mark 200 years since Mexico's independence from Spain (and 100 years since the revolution), Sebastian Corkidi's event staging company, Simply Professional, were at the centre of activity.

Specialists in producing outdoor events on a large scale, the company was commissioned to provide the technical infrastructure for the massive $60 million Government-run event at the imposing Zocalo main square in Mexico City. This featured a display of aerial acrobatics (choreographed by Ric Birch), fireworks, rock music and parades, attended by tens of thousands of people.

Having worked with PR Lighting fixtures for the past six years he knew that lighting designer Victor Zapatero would find everything he needed to bring the concept to life, from within Simply Professional's inventory.

Zapatero used 24 of PR Lighting's Century Color 2500s to colour wash th

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UK - Following on from a successful run at The Lyric in Hammersmith, the Duke of York's theatre on St Martins' Lane in London is currently playing host to Ghost Stories - a spine-chilling production which has been shocking audiences since June.

The production, written by Jeremy Dyson (of League of Gentlemen fame) and Andy Nyman, co-creator of Derren Brown's television and stage productions, features a series of different ghost stories, brought to life by stage, lighting and sound effects.

Audio plays a major role in the production, with sound designer Nick Manning creating effects for the audience right from the moment they step into the foyer. Distributed systems throughout the venue provide atmospheric effects throughout bars, corridors and in the auditorium itself - with pre-show tension building from a combination of moody lighting, the sound of dripping wate

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Germany - dBTechnologies Deutschland celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, coinciding with the completion of a new 500sq.m showroom at its Cologne-based offices, where the team and some 220 visitors were able to toast the company's first decade, at a party concluding its annual distributor convention recently.

Founded in the year 2000 by three people with a vision that the brand should be made available to a wider audience, dBTechnologies Deutschland was set up as a daughter company of Italian AEB Industriale. For over 25 years dBTechnologies has been a force in both wireless and modern audio technology, and the German sales company has grown from its humble beginnings at the turn of the millenium, to employing 35 people and serving many European countries.

"I'm extremly proud of our development over the past 10 years," says managing director Michael Herweg. &qu

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Macau - After five years in development and HK$2bn spent to create and produce The House of Dancing Water, the spectacular extravaganza has opened at City of Dreams, Macau. Produced and directed by Franco Dragone, the production - the world's largest water-based show - is housed in a 1,985-seat theatre designed by Theatre Projects Consultants. Theatre Projects has been integrally involved in the design of the project with Pei Partnership Architects and producer Franco Dragone Entertainment Group.

At 160ft in diameter and 26ft deep, the theatre features the world's largest commercial pool, holding 3.7m gallons of water. Eight 10-ton hydraulic elevators allow the conversion of the 65ft diameter centre performance area from water to a solid floor, and high-speed overhead winches move performers and scenery through space in a 3-D visual ballet.

Theatre Projects played a cen

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USA - Utilizing an extensive array of JBL ControlContractor loudspeakers, A/V integration firm CCS Presentation Systems recently completed the audio system installation at Talking Stick Resort, located in Scottsdale, Arizona.

CCS was tasked with ensuring each sound 'zone' of the 240,000sq.ft of gaming, 50,000sq.ft 22-room conference centre and 13,000sq.ft spa, was perfectly equipped and able to overcome multiple surface types, ceiling heights and the noise of more than 800 slot machines and eager customers filling the areas. Concentrating mainly on the casino floor, conference centre and other common areas, CSS concluded JBL offered the solutions for the variety of challenging audio environments.

"When we initially examined the different rooms and surfaces, we thought we would have to go with several vendors to make it all come alive," said Rod Andrewson, manager of

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UK - The Enchanted Forest, the outdoor sound and light show at Faskally Wood in Highland Perthshire, has appointed Northern Light to produce this year's light show: Force of Nature.

The show, which has been designed by award winning lighting designer Simon Wilkinson and has an original sound score composed by Ronnie McConnell, takes The Enchanted Forest back to its roots as a spectacular son et lumière.

Derek Allan, chairman of the Enchanted Forest commented, "This year we've endeavoured to approach the design of the show a little differently than in the past. Instead of entrusting the outcome to a single company, we've brought together a team of experts and artists in lighting design and sound design, who are working with one of Scotland's most reputable lighting companies to make their vision become a reality.

"The effect will be a more natu

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UK - XL Video UK supplied video equipment and crew for the Help for Heroes gig in Twickenham Stadium, Surrey, including LED for a massive scenic 'H' feature that set the visual scene, along with a full IMAG/camera/HD PPU package.

The live BBC telecast saw a much publicised reunion between Robbie Williams and Gary Barlow of Take That onstage for the first time in 15 years, and the star-studded line up also included Tom Jones, Alesha Dixon, Alexandra Burke, Katherine Jenkins, James Blunt, Enrique Iglesias, The Saturdays, Pixie Lott and many others including the band of the Coldstream Guards.

Chris Saunders project managed for XL and also designed and spec'd the show's production video elements. He comments, "It was a hugely prestigious event to be involved with for an excellent cause. The H was a very ambitious set piece to construct and needed precision and immense

  1. Major truss manufacturers join forces
  2. VMB confirms North America distributor
  3. Seesound to distribute Clockaudio in Spain
  4. Le Mark's flooring for London's Conran Shop
  5. Consultation on NOS for technical theatre
  6. ETC EOS tours Australia with West Side Story
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